DIR announced the award of a $16 million dollar contract to provide data collection, analysis, and performance measurement support to the National Office of Job Corps in the U.S. Department of Labor. For decades, Job Corps has provided training to more than 2 million at-risk youths ages 16–24. Primarily a residential approach to training, Job Corps has 125 centers in 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. Job Corps’ goal is to ensure that graduates succeed in today’s knowledge-based economy by entering the workforce, enrolling in postsecondary education, or enlisting in the military and that they form a long-term attachment to the workforce as they find a path into middle-class jobs.

From its Houston-based call center, DIR will conduct more than 60,000 telephone surveys per year with former Job Corp graduates and participants. Between 40 and 50 English- and Spanish-speaking interviewers are being hired now in preparation for data collection start-up in September 2017.

According to Dr. Russell H. Jackson, president and chief executive officer of DIR, “This contract continues our long support to this federal program and our commitment to ensuring that good data and analysis inform the continuous improvement of programs that serve low-income people and communities.”

The period of performance for this contract is up to 5 years. This award expands DIR’s ongoing partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor and the National Office of Job Corps.